An unfortunate landing
America’s return to the moon after more than 50 years has not been as successful as expected. The Odysseus module fell on its side on arrival at the Moon, causing an unexpected change of plans This incident affected the mission and limited the charging time of the batteries, reducing the duration of the mission on the Moon
Errors humans
Intuitive Machines has acknowledged that the landing failure is due to possible human error during the flight of the spacecraft’s laser range finders. This decision not to perform a pre-launch test of the laser system has led to the loss of the range finders However, the company has assured that this risk was known and assumed
Consequences of the failed landing
Odysseus’ lander ended up in a small weathered crater with a slope of 12 degrees Because of the spacecraft’s sideways posture, the solar panels do not receive enough sunlight to recharge the batteries In addition, two of the antennas were pointing towards the ground, hampering communications with the lander However, the module was able to operate for a few days
Cost of the mission
Intuitive Machines has invested approximately $100 million in landing on the moon.In addition, it has received $118 million from NASA under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program